Dress forms



May 12, 1970 'E. R. ARTHUR ETAL v 3,511,423

DRESS FORMS Filed Aug. 22, 1968 lNl/EN roles United States Patent US. Cl. 22368 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A shoulder expander adapted to be fitted to the upper end of a centre tube of a deformable wire dress form and fitted at each end with a shoulder piece or sleeve support which is slidable towards and away from said end to adapt the shoulder expander to suit different shoulder to shoulder sizes.

Cross-references to related applications United Kingdom application No. 38,990/67 dated Aug. 24, 1967.

Background of the invention This invention relates to dress forms more particularly although not exclusively of the kind in which the body part comprises body-forming sections consisting of vertically spaced apart horizontally disposed part-circular members of wire which are interconnected at each side by a vertically disposed wire, the vertical wires at each side being adapted to be detachably joined together so that the body forming sections of the dress form are retained interconnected when fitted to a persons body and shaped thereon.

Usually the body of the dress form is made of two wire sections consisting of left and right hand sections which are connected together at their vertical meeting edges at the centre of the front and back.

In particular the invention is concerned with a shoulder expander for fitting to the upper end of the stand or centre tube of a dress form and from which the wire dress form is suspended.

Summary of the invention The invention consists in the provision of a shoulder expander for a deformable wire dress form which is formed centrally between its ends with means by which it can be fitted to the upper end of the stand or centre tube of a dress form and which is adapted at each end to receive an adjustable shoulder piece or sleeve support which can be moved towards and away from the end of the shoulder expander to suit different shoulder to shoulder sizes.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of the upper part of a deformable wire dress form showing the shoulder expander fitted thereto.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation, drawn to an enlarged scale, showing one half of the shoulder expander, and

FIG. 3 is a section taken on the line III-III of FIG. 2.

Description of the preferred embodiments Referring to said drawings the shoulder expander com.- prises a main portion 1 made as a moulding from a hard synthetic plastics material and is formed centrally between its ends with a depending hollow boss 2 for making a push fit over the upper end of a vertical centre tube 3 of the stand of a dress form 3a.

Each end of said main part 1 of the shoulder expander is formed with a socket-like part constituted by a series of part-circular claw-like parts 4 which alternately extend from opposite sides of the end of the main part and which combine in end view to form the equivalent of a tube through which can slide axially a grooved stem or pin 5 connected at its outer end in a boss 6 of a hollow shoulder piece or sleeve support 7 also formed as a moulding of a synthetic plastics material. The stems 5 are comfortable friction-tight fits in said claw-like parts 4 so that the shoulder pieces 7 can be adjusted towards or away from one another and held securely in their adjusted positions to suit different shoulder to shoulder measurements. The stem 5 of each shoulder piece is formed with a stop 8 which abuts the edge of one of the claw-like parts 4 when the shoulder piece is fully extended so as to prevent separation of the shoulder piece 7 and its stem 5 from the end of the main portion 1 of the shoulder expander.

Preferably, said shoulder pieces or sleeve supports 7 are made flexible e.g. of a semi-rigid plastic so that they can be engaged inside or outside of shoulder holes in the wire form 3a so that they can be made to suit a wearers shoulder to shoulder size.

Instead of forming the ends of the shoulder expander with claw-like parts for receiving stems 5 on said shoulder pieces 7, said ends may be formed with simple tubular parts through which said pins can slide or by which they can be adjustably gripped.

Conveniently, said shoulder pieces 7 are of hollow or cup-like shape and made with comparatively thin walls so that they will readily flex.

To ensure that the stems 5 cannot turn about their axes and so position the shoulder pieces 7 incorrectly the stems are made non-circular in cross section and are formed with flats and the inner faces of the claws which are directed towards the stems are shaped correspondingly.

We claim:

1. In a manikin including a vertical centre tube, a shoulder expander comprising a body portion, means disposed centrally of said body portion for connection with the upper end of said centre tube, an adjustable shoulder piece mounted at each end of said body portion and slidable toward and away from said vertical centre tube to suit diflerent shoulder to shoulder sizes.

2. A manikin according to claim 1, wherein the body portion of said shoulder expander includes a socket-like part at each end and each said shoulder piece includes a stem slidable axially in said socket-like part and in friction-tight relationship thereto.

3. A manikin according to claim 2, wherein said stems are fixed against rotation in said socket-like parts and include a stop which co-acts with said socket-like parts to prevent separation therefrom.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2, 273,744 2/ 1942 Weinstein 223-68 2,925,944 2/ 1960 Inserillo 223-68 3,033,429 5/ 1962 Richterkessing 223-68 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner G. V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner 

